Brooke Henderson started her round with three-straight birdies from the 12th and bogeyed the par-4 18th then made six more birdies on her back nine to close with an 8-under 62 and take the lead at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican.
She tied the 18-hole tournament scoring record, set first in 2021 by Leona Maguire during her first round.
“Today felt really great to be making a lot of birdie putts,” said the Canadian. “Nice to see the ball go in the hole. And especially on my back nine today, which is actually the front nine, made a lot of birdies coming in, and bonus to get the one on No. 9. It was a long one and definitely glad to hit the hole because it was cruising. No, it's fun. I feel like my game has been trending in the right direction for a while now, and nice to see a good day happen.”
Four players are tied for second place after opening day. South Korean Jin Young Ko and Thai Patty Tavatanakit sat tied for 1st place after the morning wave of tee times until several players joined them in the afternoon. Ko fired off a bogey-free 63, tying her lowest opening round since 2021.
Tavatanakit is one of three Thai players inside the top-10 also going bogey-free, recording three birdies in a row and setting a career-low opening round record of her own.
Dane Emily Kristine Pedersen shot up the leaderboard having recorded four-straight holes under par from Nos. 6-9 with three birdies and an eagle. A bogey on her final hole kept her out of a share for first with Henderson.
Japan's Minami Katsu carded five birdies on the front to place herself in a position for a tie of first as well. Sitting at 7-under with two holes remaining, Katsu recorded
two pars to keep her just shy of the top spot.
“I mean, I'm just going to keep trying to do the same thing,” Pedersen said about staying patient while towards the top. “There are so many good golfers out here. Every week
it's such low scores. You need to have probably that 20-under as a target every single week, and that's still 12 more under for me to get to that. That is a long way, a lot of
birdies. The course sets up to -- you have to be smart. I know there will be tougher pins on the weekend and can really be some sucker pins out here. I'm just trying to put that
good swing on every single shot out there.”
